As a part of the five-year deal struck between Sesame Workshop and HBO in the summer of 2015, the Workshop was commissioned to produce a spin-off of Sesame Street starring one of the regular Muppet characters (along with an additional, educational program unrelated to the Sesame Street franchise, later announced to be an animated series entitled Esme and Roy). The series is currently still in the development stage[citation needed] and was previously aimed for a debut in fall 2017.